Thursday, October 1, 2026
Long Beach resident Ella Nandalall, 70, was in tears on Tuesday morning after she realized she had accidentally threw $5,000 in cash into the garbage.
She had set the money aside to pay her mortgage, and she immediately called her son, Krishna Nandalall, who works in the city’s Sanitation Department.
He quickly reached out to his supervisor, Broadus Brown, and his co-workers, Mark Compton and Sean Lewis, and the men began what they initially believed would be a fruitless search at the garbage dump.
“Once she told me her address, I knew immediately which truck was in her area and picked up her block,” said Brown, who coordinated the search.
The three sanitation workers sifted through 13 tons of garbage that was dumped on the ground until they found Ella’s money. Thinking her money was lost for good, Ella had expressed doubt that the men would find the loose cash and nearly gave up hope.
But the men pressed on, and after about a half an hour began to find some of the bills that had separated from the envelope Ella had left it in. Eventually, all but $40 of the $5,000 was collected and returned.
“It was very difficult but we weren’t going to leave until we found it,” Compton said. “We were out there for about 35 minutes searching.”
Nandalall offered the workers $200 as a reward but they refused to accept it.
“We said no because the good deed was done,” Lewis said. “She got her money back — that was more than enough.”
A video taken by a local sanitation worker of the men sifting through heaps of trash quickly circulated on social media, and showed a relieved Ella counting her money in $20 and $50 bills.
“[Hurricane Sandy] showed us what a great workforce we have,” City Manager Jack Schnirman said, “and this week’s Christmas miracle featured these citizen superheroes going above and beyond to help, and that’s what Long Beach is all about.”
Krishna has worked for the Sanitation Department for 27 years since he was hired at age 18. He said his mother came to Long Beach with him and his five siblings from Guayana in the 1990s and she taught them the importance of working hard.
“She took care of us when we were back home in Guayana and when she brought us here we made her proud,” he said. “We didn’t let her down. She always taught us to work hard and you’ll get what you want.”
